In This Empty Room
by Ruemaja
Summary: The World Ends With You JoshuaxNeku with slight spoilers. Neku had good eyes. He knew that others didn’t see what he was now seeing. They weren’t as close to the—Who was it again?—like he was.


I'm really sad now... I can't seem to beat that blue noise that's shaped like an elephant in the middle of scramble crossing... I need to beat him so I can get the reports.. Argh. This is fic is a sort of AU follow-up to my other fic, Sleep Until Dawn. It's under the same premise at least but I think this could be read without it. once again, spoiler alert. At least a small spoiler to the last part of the game... I think.

And this is a JoshuaxNeku fic. They don't belong to me. The song and the translation aren't mine. I was listening to it while writing. I wonder if this a song fic because of it...?

Please forgive me... Thank you for reading.

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**"In This Empty Room"**

_Why is my body shaking,_

_In this empty room?_

_Tell me why…_

_-Kono Daremo Inai Heya de, Gackt_

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_The bed sheets smell nice_, Neku realized that morning when he woke up. The streets outside were unusually quieter now than it was last week. At least he thought so. He sighed and threw of his blankets but didn't make a move to get up yet. Outside, it was a beautiful day, if he could he would just spend the day lying on the bed surrounded by the scent of some cologne he knew he didn't use. But then reality finally sunk in.

He needed to open shop soon.

_Good morning, Neku…_

"Ugh, morning…" he mumbled as he stumbled out of his bed.

There was no one else in the room. He thought he heard someone walking down the hallway outside his room and he didn't think it was so strange; he stood up, changed and prepared for the day.

The WildKat wasn't going to open itself, after all.

It's been quite a few years since Hanekoma left for the Higher plane. He left the shop to Neku after he decided to move out of his parent's home on his 16th birthday. It's a charming place and every once in a while, people he knew came by to see how he was doing.

Shiki, Beat and Rhyme often came by of course. Shiki and Eiri, after they graduated, opened up a shop nearby. It was rough at first but the clothes they made were now one of the hippest in the country. Beat really did take Skateboarding seriously and was now pretty famous with Rhyme every step of the way. They were the unbeatable pair.

The reapers came by sometimes to chat and drink coffee and talk about old times. Uzuki still gets pissed off every time they came; always complaining about the coffee but Kariya seemed to always be able to calm her down.

Eiji Ooji also comes by whenever he feels like it. Thankfully without the trail of fangirls and boys. He usually came in disguise and they would talk about all sorts of things. Spicy tuna roll or not, Eiji Ooji was still quite famous. It's not that he wouldn't like the business it would bring but he liked a nice quiet café without screaming people, thank you very much.

At the end of the day, they would leave and he would close shop and then he would start to paint. Neku was an artist now and his paintings, though not like CAT, spoke volumes in itself. He wondered if he was unconsciously putting imprints in it like Mr. H does it but then would it matter? He liked what he did and people liked what he did. And it made him happy.

People flocked whenever he had an exhibit. People bought his works and sometimes, he would give it to someone he fancied who deserved it.

It was unusually quiet that day. The cafe was empty. There was a distant sound of the busy streets somewhere but it could only be heard vaguely from Cat Street. Neku smiled. It's been a while since a slow day like this came. He sighed as he prepared coffee the same way he always does and pours the contents in two mugs. The purple one is his while the white one was—

_Whose was it again?_

He turned to the other side of the counter where he thought he saw a figure in white, reading the paper and holding the mug in his pale hands.

When Neku blinked, the image was gone. It left behind a strange coldness in the room. He shivered and wondered if it was too cold for August. He reached out to touch the warm, white mug and almost dropped it when someone called out from the door.

"Hey, is this place open?"

Neku looked up and turned. He grinned when he saw who it was.

"Mr. Hanekoma!" He grinned, happily. He carefully put the mug back down.

Hanekoma strode in with that lazy grin on his lips. "It's been a while, Phones."

"It's been years, sir." He replied, grinning, forgiving him for calling him by that old nickname. "Come on in and have a cup. This one's on the house." He added as he walked over to the counter.

"Hey, thanks, Phones." He said and sat down by the counter taking in the scent of the coffee. "God, that smells great, Phones! Didn't think you had it in you."

Neku laughed. "Had to, remember? You left me the shop. Been living here since you left it. I have a studio at the back and then we talked about it and we decided it would be a waste to close the café down. That guy likes coffee anyway. Makes a really mean one too… He leaves me with all the work though. Lazy bastard that he is."

Hanekoma frowned. "'We?'" He asked.

"Yeah." Neku replied, smiling. "Me and—"

_Who was it again?_

"Neku?!"

_You're so careless, Neku._

He hadn't realized he dropped the mug on the counter, shattering it into pieces. Hot coffee spill, running down the table top, dark almost like blood. With trembling hands he reached out to touch the dark steaming liquid—

—_Don't touch it!—_

He stopped as he saw pale hands encircle his own, cradling it gently.

_It's hot…_

"Neku? Are you alright?"

Hanekoma's concerned voice made him look up, and the pale hands that he knew the angel didn't see disappeared.

"I'm alright…" He said as he tried to smile.

Hanekoma was about to say something else but the sound of steps caught their attention. Neku forced a smile on his face as a customer entered. A boy in his teens with long dark hair and brown eyes came in.

"Is this place open?" He asked.

"Yes, it is. Welcome."

"Oh, it's you!" Hanekoma greeted.

"Mr. Hanekoma!" The boy greeted, happily. "I didn't know you were a regular here."

Neku had good eyes. He knew that others didn't see what he was now seeing. They weren't as close to the—_Who was it again?— _like he was. He had learned to recognize some things. That flickering somewhere in that person's form told him what he feared.

He drowned out their conversation. Neku wanted to sit down. But he didn't. There was a customer. He needed to keep a poker face. To show them nothing was wrong.

"Neku?"

"Hmm?" He lifted his head again from his task of cleaning the counter.

"I want you to meet the new Composer."

The young man bowed to him, respectfully. "Good day. I am—"

—_Yoshiya Kiryuu. But Mother and father used to call me Joshua. I guess you can call me that too._

Neku just continued to smile. "I see… The new Composer…" He murmured. "I'm pleased to meet you…"

The boy, the new Composer whose name he didn't catch, smiled at him and offered his hand to shake and Neku took it but the hands that he grasped were not warm. They were cold like ice and he drew his hand quickly away as if he had been burned.

"Is something wrong…?"

Neku shook his head and gave some silly excuse. "My hands are dirty. I'm sorry. It's just that—"

Someone's white figure walked into the studio caught his attention. He stopped mid sentence and excused himself, following the figure further into the shop, into their apartment and then into his room. Hanekoma stood by and watched Neku disappear inside. The new Composer turned to Hanekoma, questions in his eyes. But Hanekoma merely shook his head.

These are questions with answers that shouldn't be answered today.

Inside the room, Neku stood as he trembled, looking at the empty room.

"Why…?" He whispered.

It was just him and the empty room.

**END**

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I'm sorry... I'm really sorry...


End file.
